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The Indiana race drew the majority of attention as Coats struggled to placate the conservative wing of the party. But, those voters wound up splitting their votes between state Sen. Marlin Stutzman, who had the endorsement of South Carolina Sen. Jim DeMint , and former Rep. John Hostettler.

Although DeMint praised Stutzman's campaign and the narrow margin by which he lost, it's worth noting that for all the energy generated by conservatives in the contest Coats ultimately prevailed.

A similar but much less high profile scenario played out in Ohio where Fisher beat out Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner for the Democratic nod. Fisher had the backing of state and national Democrats but Brunner drew support from liberals. Fisher managed to win but spent heavily to do so -- spending that means he will start in a deep financial hole against former Rep. Rob Portman (R) in the fall.

North Carolina's Democratic Senate primary posed more questions that it answered. Secretary of State Elaine Marshall finished first but former state Sen. Cal Cunningham kept her under 40 percent of the vote -- ensuring a June 22 runoff.

The question now before the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee is whether they officially endorse Cunningham in hopes of catapulting him to a runoff win. And, even if the committee does make such a move, where will the votes of African American attorney Ken Lewis who finished third in the primary last night go?

2. Results in House races on Tuesday largely kept Republican hopes in a handful of competitive Democratic-held districts alive.

In Indiana, cardiologist Larry Buchson narrowly won the 8th district Republican nomination, preserving Republican chances of picking up the seat being vacated by soon-to-be Senate nominee Brad Ellsworth.

The loss of former Rep. Mike Sodrel (R) in the neighboring 9th was more of a mixed bag; Sodrel had held the district for a brief time last decade but attorney Todd Young, who won the primary, had argued that the possibility of a fifth race between Sodrel and Rep. Baron Hill (D) was a recipe for disaster for the party.

In Ohio, the victory by businessman Jim Renacci (R) means that Rep. John Boccieri's (D) first re-election race in the 16th district will be a tough one. State Sen. Bob Gibbs, the preferred GOP nominee in the 18th district held by Rep. Zack Space (D), led Fred Dailey by five -- yes, five -- with 94 percent of precincts reports.

North Carolina has a surprising dearth of competitive races but the one Republican target -- the 8th -- will head to a June 22 runoff between wealthy businessman Tim D'Annunzio and former sportscaster Harold Johnson for the right to challenge Rep. Larry Kissell (D) in the fall.

3. A poll conducted for former Congressional staffer Mark Critz (D) puts him eight points ahead of businessman Tim Burns (R) with less than two weeks left before the special election in the southwestern Pennsylvania 12th district.

Critz, the late Rep. John Murtha's (D) longtime district director, takes 45 percent to 37 percent for Burns, according to a Global Strategy Group poll obtained by the Fix. Critz has widened his lead from a mid-April Global Strategy Group when he took 41 percent to 38 percent for Burns. Pollster Jef Pollock described Critz's lead as "small but significant" in a memo detailing the poll results.

In a three-way race that includes Libertarian candidate Demo Agoris the result is largely unchanged: Critz 44 percent, Burns 36 percent, Agoris two percent.

The Pennsylvania special election is set for May 18 -- four days before an increasingly problematic special election in Hawaii where national Democrats have grown increasingly pessimistic about their chances.

Losing both races (in the space of four days) would almost certainly send a wave of panic through Democrats about their prospects in the midterm elections and with Hawaii heading south, the Pennsylvania race becomes that much more important.

Both national parties are spending heavily on independent expenditure efforts. The National Republican Congressional Committee has spent $728,000 on the race to date while the DCCC has dropped $472,000.

4. A new Quinnipiac University poll showed Sen. Arlen Specter's lead over Rep. Joe Sestak in the May 18 Pennsylvania Democratic primary race has narrowed to single digits.

Specter stood at 47 percent to 39 percent in the Q poll, a considerable change from the 53 percent to 32 percent lead the party-switching incumbent held in an early April survey.

Much of Sestak's gains are attributable to a statewide television buy that has increased his name recognition statewide. While nearly six in ten voters said they didn't know enough about Sestak to offer an opinion back in April, that number shrunk to 44 percent in this poll.

Specter, who has held a Senate seat in the state since 1980, is, not surprisingly almost universally well known by likely Democrats and broadly well liked (57 percent favorable/31 percent unfavorable.)

Sestak's rapid improvement affirms the ideam however, that Specter's support within his new party is decidedly soft and voters are willing to jump to a credible alternative. But, while Sestak still has considerable room to grow, it's not yet clear how Specter's television assault on his record will influence the race.

As we have written before, this race is far from over. Sestak's rise makes clear that while Specter has to still be considered a favorite to be the party's nominee this fall, it's far from a sure thing.

5. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) acknowledged the obvious -- throwing his endorsement to Secretary of State Trey Grayson in advance of the state's May 18 Senate primary.

"I rarely endorse in primaries but these are critical times," says McConnell in a television ad for Grayson. McConnell goes on to urge a vote for Grayson's "conservative leadership to help turn back the Obama agenda".

While McConnell officially endorsed Grayson Tuesday, it's been an open secret in Kentucky politics for the better part of a year that McConnell not only pushed Sen. Jim Bunning (R) out of a re-election bid but also recruited Grayson into the race.

Grayson has faced a stronger-than-expected challenge from businessman Rand Paul who has focused on channeling tea party anger in the grassroots into support for his campaign.

Most polls in the primary suggest Paul has a double digit lead but data released by Grayson's campaign earlier this week painted the race as a toss up.

So much for Academic Freedom, something this whacked out Va. R A.G. apparantly has no respect for:

" Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli is demanding that the University of Virginia turn over a broad range of documents from a former professor to determine whether he defrauded taxpayers as he sought grants for global-warming research.
The civil investigative demand asks for all data and materials presented by former professor Michael Mann when he applied for five research grants from the university. It also gives the school until May 27 to produce all correspondence or e-mails between Mann and 39 other scientists since 1999"

looks like Rs in this country have become Big Brother in the most frightening sense and are obsessed with the 1930s concept of demanding those they challenge Turn Over Their Papers.
Sounds Orwellian but not surprising from this same crowd that also refutes Thomas Jefferson and evolution. Curious what would be said here today if this was an action taken by Gov. Kaine instead of the McDonnell administration.
Why are we not hearing R chants of keep the hands of Big Govt. out of our lives.

A new Pew poll of nine political words and phrases found that a strong majority — 68 percent — of Americans have a positive reaction to the word “progressive,” while only 52 percent have the same response to “capitalism”:
==========================================
How about the rest of the poll ? Not interested in that ?

Watch it. You job is to blog-spam -- not to reveal possible untold truths that elude an easily duped mainstream media!

How about those "T-shirt vendor" heroes? Just a little too perfect, straight out of central casting, duhyathink? Like maybe some of them have been working undercover in Times Square for a year or two or three, or since 9/11?

And that alarm clock -- I saw a similar one at "Dollar Deal." It was priced at about a buck and a half, as I recall. Talk about a precision timing instrument...

Well, it's just a theory... same one I had at the time of the underpants bomber...

Can you say, kabuki theater?

Oops, gotta go, some guys in black suits and interesting lapel pins are knocking at the door! (I am joking -- at least, for now...)

1. Well, it certainly looks good to be an establishment favorite in the primaries. In Kentucky, that certainly gives Trey Grayson more hope of victory and seemingly empowered McConnell to go public with an endorsement for Grayson again Paul, Palin & the Tea movement. McConnell certainly got what he wanted last night in Indiana with a Coats victory. Burr had no trouble cruising with over 80% in the R primary. Portman was unoppossed in Ohio and was able to keep his millions for the GE. The NDSC almost got what they wanted with Fisher winning and Ellsworth cruising practically unoppossed. In North Carolina, they do now have a bit of a problem. Their preferred candidate, Cal Cunningham, didn't win the primary but did force a run off finishing 2nd to Sec. of State Elaine Marshall. For those of you not from NC and not familiar with Marshall, she is a pretty impressive candidate. She beat out the great Richard Petty some years back for Sec. of State. To beat Richard Petty here in NC is no easy task. She had around 37% of the vote against Cunningham's 29%, with Ken Lewis coming in 3rd with around 18%. Now, word is that someone in Cunningham's campaign made statements that will likely be used against him in this primary. The conversation was on fundraising and someone from Cunningham's campaign said "running against an African American and a woman, it's just hard to raise money." It should be interesting now that Lewis is gone from the primary and Cunningham needs blacks to win. Marshall on the other hand has a long tenure in state politics and her ties with indicted former Gov. Mike Easley. I have also heard something about Cunningham getting a dishonorable discharge from the Navy. This primary is going to get really ugly really quickly. It should be a good one. Whichever candidate can get the black vote who supported Lewis will likely win this primary.

To be sure, it makes a difference which national party is in power. The big picture right now is that Americans fear for the direction of the country. We have a president with a warped sense that government should be larger and dominate in everything. No room in his mind for what the citizen wants! Very scary! We cannot afford President Obama and his intrusiveradical dividing politics. He is bankrupting the nation! Stop it!
We do need desparately to uphold our laws on the invading illegal alien hordes squatting on U.S. soil and holding down American jobs in every state. Enough is enough, U.S. Immigration Law is ignored for years and we are suffering because of it. Deport all illegal aliens now Janet Napolitano! Uphold the law!
Americans are waking up to the fact we are all being used as a "cash cow" by the Democratic party and everybody, while our needs are ignored, including enforcement of titled U.S. Law. Basically, the citizen is being abandoned by the government who fails to defend him and uphold the law.
Use your vote to get rid of the big time government spenders who those who ignore your wishes!
Defend yourselves!

Looks like some Rs [like governors of coastal states ]-- are thinking twice about drilling here and now:

Governor Bob Riley of Alabama"

'At a press conference this afternoon in Mobile, AL, the Wonk Room questioned Riley whether he would reconsider his “Drill, Baby, Drill” stance as the oil spill grows, threatening the destruction of the bayous and beaches of Mobile Bay. After a long pause, Riley answered that he “will have a completely different attitude” if the efforts to protect his state’s shores fail:

That’s a great question. After we get through this, I think all of us can make a better determination than we can now. Because with the resources that have been deployed, and if we can do what I hope we can do in Alabama to mitigate any potential environmental damage here, especially in our estuaries, then I will have a completely different attitude about whether or not it is controllable after something this dramatic happens."

The would-be terrorist was caught immediately by our crack NYPD, then questioned adroitly and without torture, and he immediately confessed and turned in 8 others, who are under arrest in Pakistan. Plot foiled, other plots undermined.

Sorry, ace, no matter how you spin it, this was a job well done -- so stop whining, if you know how.

Since CC loves polls so much, here's a new one from Pew -- the 'IRS' and 'socialism' had more positive ratings than 'tea party'-

"Despite Fox News host Glenn Beck’s conspiracy theory about progressivism being a “cancer” that is secretly plotting to destroy the country, Americans have a largely positive view of the word “progressive.” Meanwhile, “capitalism” appears to not have fared so well following the Great Recession.

A new Pew poll of nine political words and phrases found that a strong majority — 68 percent — of Americans have a positive reaction to the word “progressive,” while only 52 percent have the same response to “capitalism”:

Of course, capitalism and progressivism are not opposites, but perhaps Americans view one as the cause of the economic crisis, and the other as the solution.

ThinkProgress has noted that the tea party movement hasn’t proven popular in recent polls either, with socialism and even the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) receiving more favorable ratings.'

37th, if you can participate in a conversation and not spam the board every time people are talking about something you don't want to talk about, I couldn't care less as to your ideology. Hell, I don't even care that you are constantly making up "facts" out of thin air.

Why do you even care what I think? You obviously have a safe haven to do whatever the hell you want.

BP and its employees have given more than $3.5 million to federal candidates over the past 20 years, with the largest chunk of their money going to Obama, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. Donations come from a mix of employees and the company’s political action committees — $2.89 million flowed to campaigns from BP-related PACs and about $638,000 came from individuals.

To add to the conversation about the success of Tea Party-backed candidates, it's worth noting that both of the Republican primaries for state office here in Ohio saw the Tea Party-approved candidates blown out of the water by the Republican Party-approved candidates. One of those establishment candidates only lost the Tea Party's official backing because he switched races when they didn't want him to, so he's not too much of a shock, but the other one was being vehemently opposed by the Tea Party because he'd been putting items on his campaign mailers to imply they were supporting him when they weren't.

Of course, while that trend is probably bad news for the Tea Party in the short run, I wonder whether it will hurt the "movement" in the long run. You know the vast majority of them will end up solidifying behind Republican candidates, unless there are a lot of third-party runs, and those establishment Republican candidates are probably going to have an easier time in the general than would the Tea Party-backed candidates.

Since CC loves polls so much, here's a new one from Pew -- the 'IRS' and 'socialism' had more positive ratings than 'tea party'-

"Despite Fox News host Glenn Beck’s conspiracy theory about progressivism being a “cancer” that is secretly plotting to destroy the country, Americans have a largely positive view of the word “progressive.” Meanwhile, “capitalism” appears to not have fared so well following the Great Recession.

A new Pew poll of nine political words and phrases found that a strong majority — 68 percent — of Americans have a positive reaction to the word “progressive,” while only 52 percent have the same response to “capitalism”:

Of course, capitalism and progressivism are not opposites, but perhaps Americans view one as the cause of the economic crisis, and the other as the solution.

ThinkProgress has noted that the tea party movement hasn’t proven popular in recent polls either, with socialism and even the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) receiving more favorable ratings.'

Margaret, I was reading comments from posters familiar with Hawaii politics and it made me remember how different it is from the mainland. Its history as an island society and the different sort of ethnic rivalries present there make the result of their election particularly irrelevant to November.

You knew that the right wing extremists didn't do very well when the headlines didn't read, "Obama is in trouble, Republican wave sweeps election"

I guess, once again, the hype about the corporate funded Tea Party nonsense is revealed at the polls. What distractions and distortions might we expect from the Conservative noise machine. When can we watch the next hyped up political entertainment from Faux News?

How about the facts about the mess Republicans made and the progress Obama is making fixing them?

Most of this news looks good for the Democrats! I especially like the polling on on PA's 12 CD. Murtha was very good to his constituency, and they will remember that and vote for Critz on election day.

If the Democrats win PA it will show that all this GOP/TEA Party/Anti-incumbent echo-chamber talk is as empty as is any echo. It would be nice to win Hawaii, too (I'm enjoying the Special Election Smack Down the Democrats are delivering to the Republicans), but if the Republican slips past a split vote I think we all know that that signifies nothing about November.

Yup, its hard to see how the GOP squares the circle. The enthusiasm they're enjoying is fueled by the most conservative conservatives. If they nominate conservative/TEA candidates, they keep the new, smaller base excited, but lose moderates. But if they nominate moderates, they lose the enthusiasm of the base. Can a Coats attract both? I have my doubts.

Here in MN the GOP candidate for Gov is a TEA-approved conservative; but its not at all clear he can attract moderates - particularly if the IP nominates a former Repub.

DDAWD the polls have Ellsworth down a lot but Coats is hovering around 46%, which isn't good for a guy who should be viewed as the pseudo-incumbent in the race. Also Coats is damaged goods with his work as a lobbyist and his comment about NC. I will say I didn't think Coats would survive the primary, but it isn't like 39% is a ringing endorsement of his potential.

From a generally astute commentator, who think Coats will have a hard time with turnout, as most enthusiastic electorate [base] thinks he's too 'moderate.'

"It's hard to predict exactly how that race will turn out at this early stage. Ellsworth has been a successful fundraiser, seriously outraising Coats in the last quarter. Plus Ellsworth has Bayh's full support, plugging him into a statewide party machine that propelled Bayh to victory many times in the past.

Coats has his own political contacts, though he last called on state voters to elect him way back in 1992 when he last ran for Senate in the seat he inherited from his old boss Dan Quayle. And Coats still has to deal with an upset portion of his base, who have attacked him as too establishment and too moderate on guns to be a modern Republican."

But we see once again that all this talk about the tea party is just that -- talk. People win elections by appealing to the middle.

Coats actually strikes me as the one who would fare best in a general among all three, not that I've seen polling or anything for a non Coats candidate. Coats is crushing Ellsworth, so I don't think Republicans are too worried.

I hope this winner will start putting a stop to Puppy Mills in his state of Indianna.

Right now a Merchant in Mass. is sueing me for for $24,ooo. plus $850.00 for refund approved amd issued to me by my CC co. . Why? Because the merchant sold me a Puppy from. who knows where, that had a contageous Parisite "Giardia" which can be transmitted not only to other animals but to CHILDREN AND ADULTS AS WELL. I brought her to NYS and tried to treat her for 2 months. She still remained Positive.

Local police took, with my approval ownership of pup to be turned over to local animal warden. This merchant has been named in newspaper and TV Boston's Channel 5 as puppy pet shop with reputation.

Merchant took my pup and threw her into my car on driver side where window was open. Her remark was "Your not sticking me with this pup.

I am a woman in my 80s' and have very severe spinal problems. I cannot without damage to my health make a 3-1/2 trip to Dudley, Mass. court. I am desperate for an Atty. who wants to help. SS is my primary income. COME ON YOU POLITICAL FOLKS - GIVE THE REAL PEOPLE SOME HELP!!!!! E mAIL IS: loonybin 2000@yahoo.com I may be the defendent but I AM NOT THE CRIMINAL IN THIS MATTER OF CRUELTY TO ANIMALS!!!!!!!!!!

I think the Democrats out there are pretty happy if you ask me. They get Coats (who is weak and the GOP knows it) in Indiana,

Cunningham and Marshall will now get 45 more days of free good media which only raise their profiles in the state. And as CC pointed out it gives Cunningham time to make up ground on Marshall. Their run-off will be decided by which candidate can motivate and get the black vote. Ken Lewis could play king-maker in this one if he wants to.

The win by Fisher is good news as well since he has consistently beaten or run even with Portman in polls for the past year or so.

Could this be the first sign that the Tea Party movement is slipping, petering out as just a conservative fad? After Rubio, I think the CW was that all Tea Party challengers would easily brush by the GOP establishment. Not quite...